Almond Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies (Kacie)

In the book, they said that you probably did something today that deserved a cookie.
I'm pretty sure I did in the past 24 hours, so I made some cookies!

These are yummy. Warm and nutty and chocolately. I ate those three, and I want more. Let's see how long I can hold out. I am the only one here and awake, so no one will know how many I started with.....

On the other hand, I just registered for a race.

I actually raced a 5k kind of impulisvely. It was right down the street, and it benefitted a breastfeeding group, which is cool. I won my age group, and was 4th woman, 5th overall. I was proud of it.

 Plus the boys "raced." It was hilarious, because Quintin just stood there and watched everyone else run off! He TOTALLY didn't get that he was supposed to run too.

So, I signed up for the 4 bridges half marathon in Chattanooga. We will stay at the same Air BnB we did before and loved. I can't wait!

So, maybe I should limit how many more of those cookies I eat. Like one more.

Spiced Chickpea Wraps with Tahini dressing and Creamy Peanut Slaw (Kacie)

So this was actually a really simple dinner. If I were going to make it again, I would run the cabbage through the cuisinart so it was thinner. The dressing was great though. The chickpeas were yummy too. I actually cheated and just used a tahini dressing that I already had, and it was good on the wrap.

So I watched the new muppets during dinner, since George gets home late on Wednesdays. I'm not sure what I think. I think I'll watch it again to see.

Wedding Soup with White Bean Balls and Kale (Kacie)

So the soup base of this is a great basic vegetable soup recipe. In fact, I like it so much, that there is a second batch of the soup on my stove top right now. It's not like I don't know how to make a basic veg soup, but I like this combo a lot.

The bean balls are tasty. They add some heft to the soup. Make sure you store them separately from the soup though, because they will get soggy if you don't, and that's not really fun.

It's a good and comforting soup. I sent a batch to a cyclist friend that was hit by a car. It's like a vegan chicken noodle soup.

Oh, and we also used letters as the small noodles, which are cute!

Carrot and Apple Muffins (Kacie)

These were easy and quick.

I made them into mini muffins to take to art class. All of the munchkins there seemed to enjoy them.

Snack time at baby/toddler art class is serious business.

There were new people (that don't know me really well) there, and they kept asking for the recipe. I felt kind of strange telling them they just HAD to go buy the Thug Kitchen Cookbook....hehehehehe

Ravioliering (Sparkles)

In our second attempt to make the ravioli we had a very hard time. We rolled the dough out thinner because it was too thick last time but they would not stay sealed this time. So here is where not using eggs leads to a problem. Even the few that didn't explode were still quite thick- you still give it a go, it might not bother you and as I've stated we are very particular about Italian food being a certain way. The spinach artichoke filling I whipped up with roasted garlic was delicious. We just topped it with a little garlic, basil and extra virgin olive oil. We had some survivors but we could only add a VERY small amount of filling. 

I didn't take pictures because I was annoyed but here are some left overs. 

That is all I made from the book lately. One negative of this book is that I will search asparagus, brussel sprouts, or green beans in the index and there are 0-1 recipes matching thatingrediant which is a bummer because I just opened three other cookbooks randomly in my kitchen and they all gave me three or more recipes. 

In other news we got a reverse osmosis water filtration system and Jason had a really fun time installing it for 4 hours. I could tell it was fun AND easy like the website said because of all the hollering and trips to Home Depot. I keep telling him how it is the best water I've ever tasted and how I even feel healthier already after 3 glasses. 

Cold Citrus Noodles and Ginger Marinated Tofu (Kacie)

I also had to take a picture of the adorable soba noodle wrappers! How cute is that?

Really yummy dish. The tofu was great. I did the whole process of squeezing out the water, which I had learned from The Grit cookbook, and it always helps. Their marinade and cooking method used WAY less oil than The Grit's double frying method, which I appreciate now that I'm not a college kid anymore. I was a little lazy in cutting the veggies into matchstick size, which made them a little too big, but Wednesdays are my nights that I'm totally solo with the fellas, so big matchsticks were what happened when they started flipping out on me some!

Also, Soba noodles seem to be pretty fragile. I think I would be careful to toss it less next time, because I felt like I broke too many noodles.

Vegan Brinner! Whole Wheat Biscuit, Lentil Gravy, and Greens (Kacie)

This was solid.

The biscuits were good, even if they were flatter than I wanted. The gravy was more of just lentils than it was gravy. The greens were great. They were packed with flavor.

I pretty much love brinner. Probably because I love breakfast. If I could just eat breakfast for all three meals, I would. Breakfast. Brunch. Brinner. Done.

Carrot Cake Cookies (Kacie)

I made these bad boys for baby and toddler art class today. My friend Annie does this, and it is SO much fun. My boys are busy and have so much to do for a great hour each week. Today, they played in multi colored spaghetti, painted on an easel, used markers on plexiglass, worked to get all kinds of stuff out of ice, and played in a sprinkler. It was a great and messy morning!

After play time, they all sat down for snack. I made these cookies, and if toddlers could review food, this would have gotten a great one. They ate every one of them, and sweet Nolan asked if he could have the last one!

There were some requests for the recipe, so here it is! They are kind of like muffin tops instead of cookies, which isn't a bad thing!

1 and 1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnoman
1/2 tsp ground ginger (I only had fresh, and it was tasty)
1 cup shredded carrots (that's right kiddos, you totally just had veggies and you didn't even know it! BOOM)
1/2 cup almond milk (I used cashew milk)
1/4 cup olive or grapeseed oil
1/2 cup walnuts (I skipped this today)
1/2 cup raisins optional

Mix dry and mix wet. Add wet to dry and plop on parchment paper in a cookie pan. Bake for 18-22 minutes at 375.

Crispy Milllet and Peanut Butter Buckeyes (Kacie)

I love these.

Like, I can't stop thinking about them. And by thinking about them, I mean eating them.

I also made these for the cookout, and everyone enjoyed them. I love love love the crunchiness.

Seriously, I made them yesterday, and I'm thinking about making them again. Like today...

Sweet Corn and Black Eyed Pea Dip and Creamy Black Bean and Cilantro Dip (Kacie)

Sparkles had already made the black eye pea dip, so I knew it would be good. I made both of these for our family Labor Day cookout. The black eye pea dip is just great. I just had it for lunch on a salad with avocado, and it was great. This is totally delicious stuff.

The black bean dip is good. What it really is is easy. Just throw that stuff in a blender and BAM you are done and you have a tasty little dip!

I've thought recently that this cookbook has really done well. The recipes are for the most part really tasty and it makes cooking more fun to have a challenge with it! Plus, it's easy for people to give you real feedback on your food. I was able to say, "give me your review--it's not personal, it's for my blog," and most folks were willing to tell me they like the black eye pea one more.

Potato Leek Soup (Kacie)

This was SUCH an easy soup. It is light on ingredients, just throw it on the stove and use the immersion blender. So easy, simple, and seems creamy even though there is no cream!

You know what's complicated that I love? The show United States of Tara. I'm obsessed with it.

Ok, on to the next one! I fell behind blogging, so I'm trying to catch up during nap time. You know what's a crock? Apparently when you switch from one nap to two, you are supposed to get these nice and long naps...not us...anyway...I'm not a fan of complaining, but it's annoying!

Spicy Pickled Carrots and Quick Pickled Cucumbers (Sparkles)

Thug Kitchen authors say you can use these pickled concoctions with all your tacos and burritos or the brown rice bowls.  I also like it on a bed of spinach. 

Black Bean Tortas with Coconut Chipotle Mayo (Kacie)

These were yummy!

Sometimes, the recipes in "The Main Event" section take FOREVER. This one didn't. Blend up the sauce and cook/mash a few beans, assemble, and eat!

My only note is that the recipe makes WAY too much of the chipotle mayo. Who needs that much? I guess I'll try to find other uses for it, but I have a feeling I'll end up throwing some of it out.

Other than that, it makes for a tasty dinner.

Basic Maple Granola (Kacie)

We went to a library story time today with two other sets of twins. My boys love to read and look through books at home, but they are still pretty young for library time. We will keep on going, but we might have to move around libraries so we don't get a bad rap. Quintin was so happy to see all of the other kids that he was running to them, waving, and yelling with joy. Then he was more interested in the pencils at the sign in station (not safe). Maybe he just wants to be a writer.


Anyway, I thought that turning my granola into a parfait would be a lovely afternoon snack after a morning of chasing my little lovable hellions around.

And it was great. I only used dried cherries as the fruit, and it was really nice. I did vanilla greek yogurt, half a banana (Candler kept stealing the slices), some blackberries, and granola.


I would make this again for sure.

BBQ Bean Burrito with Grilled Peach Salsa and Baked Spanish Rice (Kacie)

In the cookbook, they said that this is basically a copy of a burrito from one of their favorite restaurants that shut down. I can see why you would want to repeat it. Yum.

This is basically three recipes in one on a tortilla.

The BBQ beans were tasty. They were pretty spicy, but with lots of flavor.

I maintain that the grilled peach salsa doesn't actually need to be  grilled to be yummy.

The baked spanish rice was easy and tasty!

All together, this was another great dinner.

I thought it was a kind of wild burrito, so it had to pose with our frog.